123a3543dc65
tech



Hello Jim - 

->>> I finally got fed up with the burner I have now and went
->>> out and bought one of those 'double layer' DVD RW burners
->>> that also does CDRs and CDRWs. 

->>> Won't work here. Either it's my BIOS (Award) or my boot
->>> manager but something gives me a "DMI pooling data"
->>> message and the boot process stops before ever accessing
->>> the bootmanager's files on the hard drive. :-\ 

JH>  

CA>> When I returned the DVD burner the man at the counter told
CA>> me he had bought one too and had to return it as
CA>> incompatible with his system. :-\  

JH> What brand and model was the drive? If I find one of that
JH> brand for a good price, I'll be extra careful before making
JH> the plunge myself. 

MicroAdvantage dual layer 16x DVDRW (plus and minus) but I don't
recall the 'model' number/code.

JH> Also wondering - 

JH> Did the documentation give a "Help Line" phone number, and
JH> did you call that about the 'DMI pooling data' message? 

No I didn't call a helpline. I did go to the website but this
lockup seemed to be prior to booting up any OS, not sure really. 

JH> Did you check for your system's meeting the drive mfgr's
JH> stated 'system requirements?' 

My system is at the recommended minimum but is a 'whitebox' and
a bit faster than the specs would indicate since nothing is
'included' on the motherboard (no shared video etc.). 

JH> I checked Plextor website for specs for their double layer
JH> 16X drive Model PX-716A, and it calls for burst R/W of
JH> 66MB/sec Ultra DMA Mode 4. (I see this is a jump up from
JH> their previous Model Px-712A single layer 12X model, which
JH> only called for burst R/W of 33 MB/sec.) Also, for some
JH> reason unknown to me, their sheet for PX-716A calls for
JH> "Pentium 4 1.4GHz or equivalent (minimum)." 

The MicroAdvantage double layer 16x mentioned Ultra DMA but I
don't recall a specific mode number. I don't recall reading
what 'burst R/W' they were looking for but the minimum
processor was a P III at 500mhz. 

JH> I suspect this info is on the trail to the problem you had. 

I _think_ it was my BootitNG multiboot software that was
stopping the boot process but not really certain. 

I now have a 52x35x52 CDRW also from MicroAdvantage and am
pumping out CDs in 4 1/2 minutes with this hardware
combination. I doubt that my hardware was not up to the job
there was just enough of a conflict to prevent me from booting
to W2K and I didn't want to rearrange my setup to deal with it.
This machine almost _never_ crashes on me and stays turned on
for months at a time. I know when I'm well off. :-) 

>
>        ,                          ,
>      o/      Charles.Angelich      \o       ,
>       __o/
>     / >          USA, MI           < \   __\__
 

--- * ATP/16bit 2.31 * 
... DOS the Ghost in the Machine! http://www.devedia.com/dosghost/